Automatic hook



March 3, 1931.

A. HUSBERG ET AL AUTOMATIC HOOK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 27, 1928 lVENTORS:

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@4527 A I T ATTORN EY March 3, 1931.

A. HUSBERG ET AL AUTOMATIC HOOK Filed July 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r INVENTOR A.Hus5 e6, BY 61;. 607.65,

ATTORNEY 25 variety PatentedMar. 1931 v.

,'A1\'|'DREW HUSBERG ANDIGLEN L. GUTKE, or sALii LAKE ny, UTAH; f

' .aU'roMATIc noox jA 'pplication filed July 27, 1925. Serial No.l295,800.

This-invention relates to an automatic hook, the hook, without the automatic feature, being of the kind extensively'used in the handling of chilled cast iron car wheels.

The principalobjects of the invention are to provide: I K I First; A simple and efficient device for automatically causing the engagement or releaseof the gripping'jawsof a so-calledhook 10 which is extensively used in the handling of chilled cast 'iron car wheels; Y Second. An automatic hook which shall be positive and reliable in its action.

Third. One 'whichfshall speed up the handlingo-f car wheels in the foundry.

" Fourth. One which shall relieve the workmen of theexceedingly' laborious and ex- I hausting task of causing the attachment, by hand, between the jaws ofthe hook and' the inside surface of the Wheel hub.

While this invention hasbeenjspe'cially evolved for the purpose just mentioned, yet its use is not restricted thereto; in fact, it is possible that it maybe adapted to a wide of uses other than that specifically mentioned herein," 1 j a In the making of chilled cast iron car wheels, the wheels are removed from the molds as soon as the metal has cooled sufliciently for the wheels to hold their shapes.

At the time of removal from the molds, the wheels are still red hot-,having a temperature of about1900 degreesFahr. In this condition they must be engaged by the hook hook could be tripped, thereby releasing the gripping members from engagement with the wheel. Obviously, this is a dangerous and fatiguing task, especially whenthe wheels are taken out of theannealing' pits. Here, the workman must stand on the edge "ofa pit from which the mass of red hot metal belches forth the breath of an inferno. .With

one of the iron rods, the" workman must reach 1 ture defining a wheel pit;

upward pull on the hook causes the grippers: to engage'the' wheel, so that' it may belifted up out of the pit.'- Thehook is let down into the pit and pulled up therefrom, by any or dinary lifting device,isuch asthe fall block I mechanism comes into action, which causes 7 the grippers to engage the wheel.

. The 'featuresof this invention, for which the protection of Letters Patent of the United States is desired, are collectively grouped in, the claims concluding this specification.

In the drawings, which illustrate one embodiment o'fthis invention,

Fig. 1 represents a side'elevation showing the jaws in the retracted position ready to be tripped, in ordento grip a wheel, the latter being shown in end elevation, part being broken away to show the hubin section; 7 I a r Fig. 2, a section on line 2-2, Fig. l; i

Fig. 1, re-

,Fig.; 3,-'a section on line 3-3, fiected from a mirror plane; I

down into the pit, and'as m ats/bi the hook enter the wheel,"he must trip: the oper vating parts as best he may, whereupon an Fig. 4, a portion'of 1, showing the I principal parts in an'alternateposition;

' Fig. 5, a view similar toj Fig. 1, showing however, the alternate position of the parts,

when the j aws'have finally gripped thewheel;

Fig. 6, a verticalsection through the struc- Fig. 7, a plan, viewed from line 7 7 11 Fig- 1, part being broken away for conven-' ience; V v

Fig. 8, a bottom plan of a portio-n' of Fig. 5;and f Fig. 9, an exploded perspective view show-- ing the relation between several detailed parts.

Referring to-the drawings, the hook structune comprises two interacting bell-crank members A and B, having the long arms 10 and 12, andthe short arms l l and 16.,

respectively. These members have a scissor action around the pivot member 15. The

lar 19, while the member B is tapped to engage the threaded portion. 18 of pin 15. The member A is closely adjacent member B, but suflicient clearance is allowedso that member A. shall swing. freely. The nut 20 is tightened against the lock washer 23', securely holding the desired-adjustment between members" A and B.

The 151 and 152 opposite each other, which carry, respectively, the two shouldered protrusions 155-3, Ithese ,latterbeing square in cross-section. On the shouldered protrusions are mounted thegarms 21,. these having corre- V sponding'ly squared holes defined in their bossedends 21,1. Thus, the arms 21 are rigid relatively to the bell-crank member 13. At their opposite "ends the arms 21carry the pin 24 shouldered to form studs 24-4., on which are pivotally mounted the bell-crank tumbler. members 25, these latter carrying the pin26 on which swings a yoke made up of the side members Members27 are rigidly mountedonthepin by means of the clamping nuts 22. The studs are preferably squared at 24-2-, so as to be held more firmly by arms 21. Onthe lower lobes oi the bell-crank tumblers 25, are pivotally hung the stems 30, on whose lowerends may be adjustably threaded the pendulousq contact members 31, the latter beinglocked in any desired position, by the nuts- 32.

The arm 10 carries the standard 34 which may be integral therewith, and at the top of 34 may be pivoted, by means of the pin 35, the arm 36. In a similar manner, the standard 38 is carried by the arm'12, and has pivoted at 39, the toggle arm 40, the two toggle arms 36 and 40 being pivoted together at '41. The bracket 42 of the standard34, keeps the toggle arms from sagging, and the stool 43, which may be integral with the arm 12. and the standard 38, forms a stop for the pin 28,;the tendency of the side members 27 being toswing the pin 28 to the right, due to the eccentricity of the pivotal mounting between the side members 27 and the tumblers 25. ,7

The ends of the scissor arms 10 and 12 are pivoted at 45 to. the links 46 made of strap iron and formed as shown in'Fig. 7, producing the eyelet 47 through which passes the suspension ring 48, which latter may be engaged by the hook 49 forming part of the usual fall-block 50 (Fig. 6) of an ordinary electriccrane (not shown).

In the lower ends of the eXpa-nsible short arms Hand 16 of the bell-crank members A and B, are pivoted at 52 the outwardly serrated gripper jaws or grippers 53. These grippers have the integral lugs 54, entered in pin 15 has the two pivot extensions" the slots 55 of the respective arms 14 and 16,

and are engaged by the previously mentioned a tive pivots, and are free to swing into such-a position as will allow the serrated surfaces of the grippers to come into coincidence with any approximately verticalsurface, such as that defined on the inside of a car wheelhub.

The automatic hook, as shown in Fig. 1,.is Q

the arms 14 and 16 are substantially in coincidence-with each other, while the arms 10 a'nd12are substantially in alignment with each other, being virtually locked in'this relation by means of the toggle arms 36 and 40,

which are in the straight line position. (Jonsequently, it will be clear that as the auto matic hook hangsin the crane hook 49, there will be an upward pull on the endsoi the arms 1O and 12 which tends to compress the toggle arms, Now, when the. automatic hook is loweredso that the grippers will enter the hole in the wheel hub, they will remain in the retracted or closed position until the lower faces the contact members 31 touch the up per face of the. W e l ub 61, as indicated in 1,2and 3. c

As the automatichookis, lowered further, the-contact members 31 push upwardly on the stems 30, and cause the tumblers 25 to move around their fulcrum 24, thereby moving the yoke members27 upwardly. This causes the pin 28 to lift the toggle member 40, breaking the togglestraight line position, and immediately allowing the. weightiot the parts hanging on the links 46 to become effective to move the bell-crank;members A and B about their common pivot 15. This expands the lower arms 14 and 16, pushes the grippers 53 out .w ardly untiltheinside or concave surface of the hub is securely engaged by the laterally rounded teeth ofthe grippers as indicated in Fig. 5. The heavier the weight to be lifted,'the more securely will the same be now held by the grippers. The positionsoi the movable parts indicated in Fig. 4, occurs at apoint between the two extremepositions illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5, and visualizes the fact that after the toggle lock of Fig. 1 is broken, that sufficient time intervenes for the. grippers to drop down intothe hubv of the wheel a considerable distance below the upper face thereof, so as to engage the hub inthe manner shown in Fig. 5. The point. at which the gripping mechanism is tripped,maybeadjusted by screwing thecontact members 31 up or'down along thejstems30. 5' V V 7 When itis desired to disengage the gripping members from the wheel, it is only necessary to lower the automatic hook until the wheel rests on the surface of a solid, as at 60,

when a furtherlowering of the hook causes F the arms 10 and 12 (Fig. 5), to swingdo-wnwardly into the originalaligned position indicated in Fig. 1, thus" contracting the arms 14 and '16. Toggle arms 36 and 40 have meanwhile dropped back into the straight line position, locking the members A and B,

so that the grippers areagain held in the original retracted position-.- ,l/Vhen the automatic hook is now lifted out'sof the wheel, the

pendulo-us contact members 31- drop down- ,wardly, pulling the tumblers back into the I position shown in Fig. 1.

I In the ordinary hook which is in everyday use, bell-crank membersfsimilarto 10 and 12, and toggle locking members 36xand 40 together with lifting members corresponding to straps 46, are used. Therefore, we do not claim these members broadly, but only in combination with the automaticitripping or toggle-unlocking mechanism which has just been described. The pivoted gripping members 53 are novel, so far as we are aware.

The bell-crank members A and B, being v parts thereof are not necessarily in the preferred forms thereof. Hence, various modifications could be made without departing from the essential and characteristic features of the invention as defined by the spirit and scope of the claims.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim is: I V

.1. An automatic hook comprising pivoted members having mutually expansible arms and corresponding operating-lever arms, standards on said lever arms, toggle arms connecting said standards, said toggle arms normally in alignment with each other to form locking members effective to hold said expansible arms in an initially contracted position, tripping members effective to push said toggle arms out of alignment, and contact members operably engaging said tripping members. 2. An automatic hook comprising scissor members having expansible gripper arms and lever arms for expanding said gripper arms, toggle arms normally in alignment with each other for locking said scissor members in a position where said gripper arms shall be contracted, and a tripping mechanism having contact members effective to move said toggle membersaoutof said alignment'when 1 initial-position thereof.

1 automatlc h. .10]: amass-g1an.

.crankmembers. pivotedfto each'other t'ohave aflscissor action, grippers actuated byusa'id bell-crank'members, toggle arms normally in alignmentgwith each other for holding said bell-eranksmembers in an initiallylocked position, a tumblerioperable to trip said toggle arms, and pendulous.--'conta1et members cf.- fective to, actuate saidtumbler,

said contact members are-moved from an 4.11M! automatic hook comprising bellcranlr' l members pivoted together to have a scissor action, suspensionmembers effective to actuatesaid bellecran-k members, standards onsaid bell-crank members, toggle members BEQCUVQ' to hold said bell-crank members in aninitially locked-position,-trippingmem :bers, effectivetomove said toggle members from' 'the said holding position, and contact members actuating sa d tripping members.

5;.An automatic hookicomprising bell crank members pivotedto' each other so as to produce expansive and contractiveactionsbe 'tween-corresponding arms of. said bell-cranks, 'llfting members operablydisposed; to engage said bell-crank members, and grippers pivoted'to the arms having sa-1d} expansive and contractive actions, said grippers having lat- 'erallyrounded teeth to engage vconcaveisurfaces.

.16.; An automatic hookcomprising two bell-i.

crank members, avp'ivot pin rigidly mounted none of said members and ,oscillatlngly mounted in the other member, arms rigidly mountedon sa d pivot pm, a fulcrum pin c ar-' ried by said arms, ,a tumblermounted on said fulcrum pin, toggle members effective to lock said bell-crank members in. an initial position, a tripping yokelpivotally mounted in said tumbler in proximity to said toggle members, and contact memberspivoted in. said tumbler, said contact members being effective to cause the lifting QfgtiCl tripping yoke under certain predetermined conditions. I p

7 .A lifting device having in combination gripping members, bell-crank members actuating said gripping members, locking members holding-said bellacrank. members in an initially, locked position wherein said gripping members are retracted, a tripping mechanism having a tripping member in proximity to said locking members, and pendulous contact member suspended from said tripping member. A

8. A lifting device having gripping members, bell-crank members pivoted to each othor to cause a scissor action efiective to ad j Vance and retract said gripping members, arms spaced transversely apart from'said bell-crank members, said armsbeing rigid to one of the said scissor members, a tripping mechanism supported by said arms and pivotally mounted in relation thereto, stools on r and toggle arms,'a swinging yoke carried by said bell-crank members, toggle members pivoted to said stools, said toggle Inembersin the straight line position being in operable proximity to said tripping mechansm, and

contact members effective to actuate said tripping mechanism under certain predetermined conditions. v v V r 9. A lifting device having in combination, gripping members, scissor membersef'fective to actuate said gripping members, toggle members having substantially a straight line position effective to lock said scissor'members, and a tripping mechanism effective'to break the straight line position of said toggle members, and pendulous contact members suspended from said tripping mechanism.

10. A lifting device having in eombination, gripping jaws, levers-having mutually expansive and contractive motions effective to respectively advance or retract said gripping jaws, toggle members normally effective to hold said levers in a mutually contracted position, land a tripping mechanism having a pendulous contact member effective to break the normal position of said toggle members 11 An automatic hook, including in combination, two bell-crank members having an arm of each substantially in alignment with an arm of the other when the hook is looked, a toggle spaced apart from and locking said aligned bell-crank arms, a tumbler pivotal ly sup-ported between said bell-crank arms said tumbler and disposed to engage said toggle, and a pendulous contact member suspended from said tumbler 12. An automatic hook including in combination, two bell-crank members having an arm of each in operative conjunction with an arm o f'the' other, toggle arms spaced apart from said bell-crank arms and extending in the same general direction to holdthe bellcrank arms looked, a pivoted tumbler having means to engage a toggle arm, and a pendulous contact member suspended from said.

tumbler.

In testlmony whereof, We slgn our names hereto.

ANDREW HUSBERG. GrLEN- L. GUTKE. 

